This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive compensation. I do not recommend products that I do not personally believe are beneficial to you my readers. For more information, please see my disclosure page. Thank you in advance.

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First up, you will need to have a product, obviously, if you do not have a product, take some time to brainstorm what you would like to sell. Once you have a product, you will need pictures. Etsy is currently allowing ten pictures to show off your product. Your pictures need to represent your product in the best possible light. Since your customer can’t touch the item, use your pictures to let them get to “touch” it through the internet.

Tips:

Use natural light. Either set up near a bright window or head outside and look for a shady area, so there isn’t too much light.

Show as many possible angles as you can.

This isn’t one that I have followed, but if I were to redo my product pictures would be top of the list. Make sure the first picture only shows the item for sale. You will save yourself several emails and also negative feedback.

Do not have a cluttered setup background.

If you do not have ten pictures of your product use your other pictures. You can include pictures of similar products you offer or a pre-made picture of either your turn around time or a FAQ, or if you are offering a customizable item, you could use this to add those options.

Up next, you need a title. The title is used for searches so be as descriptive as possible. For example, one of my more popular listings has the title of

This covers that if some one searches for 1/2, 6 month, or half birthday. It also includes either shirt or bodysuit and that it is personalized. It is for either boys or girls and primarily for babies.

One of my favorite tools that I have recently found is the website EtsyRank, it provides many great resources to find where your listing is ranked. What keywords are more effective for your category and many other suggestions.

After the title, you have the about the listing section. You will need to pick who made it, what it is and when it was made. You will then select the appropriate category for it to go in to.

Next up is the renewel option, you can choose when you will renew the listing yourself once it expires or have Etsy automatically renew. I personally like to do this manual. If an item doesn’t sell, I will reconsider whether I want to sell it or if I need to fix up the listing to be more appealing.

Next, is choosing whether it is a physical item or a digital download.

One of the most important sections is the description, this is where you give as many details about your items as you can. Again, the customer can’t touch/feel the item so be as descriptive as possible.

Tips:

Make sure to include dimensions. This is very important. I have seen many negative reviews because the customer thought the item was smaller/bigger

Include your turn around time near the beginning of the listing.

Include your “tags” (more about those in a minute) in the first paragraph of your description

Make the description easy to read. Use spaces, lists and easy to understand language.

Answer any questions that you think a customer might have inside the description
Give background on why and how you made the piece.

The next three sections are optional, but I recommend using all of them.

For the section, this will help your customer when they are looking for items in your shop. You can name the sections however you like but these work well for grouping like items.

For the tags, again using EtsyRank, will be very helpful. It is suggested to use longer tags. Instead of “white”, “birthday”, and “shirt”, use “white birthday shirt”. Use as many variations of what you think the customer will use to search for your item. Make sure to use all 13 tags. You can include your shop name as one tag. I know personally, I get a lot of people searching for my particular shop name. I will show in another post how to look at what your customers are searching for on your dashboard.

Materials in the next section. Include everything that you use to make the particular item.

Pricing is next. This is a big one as well!

Things to consider when pricing your item:

What is your cost to make the item

How long does it take to make the item

How much time are you putting into advertising

How much similar items are selling for

There are all sorts of pricing guides for handmade items but it ultimately comes down to what you think the item should sell for and what your customer will pay. My suggestion is to start higher than your “bottom make a profit price” and that way you can lower if nobody is buying or have sales to entice new customers.

Etsy has a new shipping module. This allows for you to enter the dimensions and weight, how and where you are shipping, and it will calculate the costs. You can also include a handling fee.

Or you can choose free shipping.

You also have the ability to set your own prices.

Etsy also allows you to print shipping labels through both USPS and UPS and you can get a discounted rate.

You can save these shipping profiles, saving you time on the next listing.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive compensation. I do not recommend products that I do not personally believe are beneficial to you my readers. For more information, please see my disclosure page. Thank you in advance.

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Part 5 involves your shop’s story.

Why did you decide to open up shop, what is your day to day operations look like, here do you find your inspiration? These are all great questions to answer in your shop story section.

You will need to come up with a catchy headline as well.
You can get to the shop story by clicking “Your Shop” then “Shop Setting” next “About Your Shop” and finally click on “Story” at the top of the screen.

This is also where you will find the place to add your shop video.

Your shop video is your chance to connect with your potential customers. They can see who you are and if you choose see the workspace where their items will be crafted.

The video can be in a format of MOV, MPEG, Avi, mp4 or m4v and you have 300 MB to showcase you!

Etsy also has help for you on the Sell On Etsy app, which can be found in the App Store on your phone or tablet.

I strongly recommend downloading the Sell On Etsy app to stay on top of your shop while on the go.

At the end of this page, you can add up to 5 shop pictures.

You have the option to include a short caption for each picture. You can take pictures of your workspace, maybe some of your best selling products, or your product delivery presentation.

These pictures need to be 760px by 468px.

The camera that I use and recommend it to beginners who want to take great pictures.

Make sure that you have good lighting and staging. You want to display your shop in the best light!

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive compensation. I do not recommend products that I do not personally believe are beneficial to you my readers. For more information, please see my disclosure page. Thank you in advance.

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In this part, we are going to discuss your self-portrait, biography, and links to social media. If you haven’t taken the time to set up social media accounts, now is the time. Some of the more prominent options are Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. If you have these in place continue on, if not, get those setup and come back here, we will wait for you!

In the above picture, you can see where you can click to add your portrait, name, role, and bio.

This can be found by clicking on the Shop Manager at the top of the screen. Then click on Settings on the left side of the screen. Followed by About Your Shop.

For your portrait, you can either pay a professional for headshots, or you can follow this guide and do it yourself.

You will need the picture to be 400 x 400 pixels.

For your bio, I suggest a short paragraph about yourself. Include details about how long you have been working on your craft, add details to let the customer get to know you, and add a fun fact.

You will want to include how you will be helping your customer by selling them your item.

Now, on to the social media and shop links. Etsy gives you to include links to other places that you can be found on the internet.

You can include social media links, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Etc.
Or you can add your own Website or Blog.

I highly recommend setting up either your own e-commerce website or your own blog. It is so important to not have all your eggs in one basket.

I will be posting on both of these topics in the future on how to get your own website set up to sell your products and how to start your own blog to further drive customers to your products.